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Student Life

If you have a limited bank balance and are not living the high life then…

Head to your university’s careers office for help finding a part-time job that need not interfere with your studies. Mo’ money doesn’t always mean mo’ problems. Your university or college may also offer student support services, including access to loans or grants.

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If you have spent too much money on fancy dress and not enough on every day dress…

Lovers of gratuitous fancy dress often end up on student union committees or as members of Conservative Future. Consider these options if a day spent outside that Smurf costume seems like a wasted one. If, however, your dress-up career is now over, pack up the costumes and put them away for a year, then sell on to a needy fresher in 12 months.

If your relationship from home has ended (common occurrence)…

If you feel that a varied erotic life could be yours to enjoy once you have managed to get dressed and bathe for the first time in weeks, hit the student dating scene and find out what you really want from a partner.

If instead you quickly realise your now-ex really was the only one, try to think of innovative ways of winning back their heart, such as having a fling and telling them about it. Works every time.

University is not as easy as you thought…

You’re faced with a choice. Either opt to be a swot and secure that First, or abandon all pretence but face up to the fact that employers really don’t like graduates with 2:2s and Thirds, regardless of their inch-perfect Gauloise-holding pose.

If you feel homesick…

Get yourself along to your university’s counselling service. If it’s your course that’s getting you down, a polite but strongly-worded email about the problems you’re facing with a tutor or workload sent to the head of your department should reap dividends.

If you have realised you only enjoy certain aspects of the subject you are studying, consider switching to joint honours.

There is always the nuclear option: dropping out. This should only be done after careful consideration and a lot of talking with parents and tutors. You will invariably make it through any rough patches in university life.

If you need all the gadgets for university…

There are numerous gadgets that would are needed or that would benefit students at university. Here are just a few; the Livescribe ECHO Smartpen allows students to write lecture notes while recording lectures to play back later when they click on the relevant part of their lecture notes (yes, it records in harmony with your lecture notes!!)

They can also use this pen to send the notes to a PDF on your computer so you will never lose your notes again. This pen means students will be organised and efficient in note taking!

The Livescribe ECHO Smartpen will cost you approx. £168, which is even less than the Mont Blanc your grandfather bought you for you’re A level results!

All students these days will of course need also need a laptop for university for their demanding courses and facebook! These vary dramatically in size, colour, specification and street credibility. Apple is dominating the market and the all time best laptop to have is of course the new apple MacBook pro with retina display. The screen is out of this world for sharp, crisp images for those students studying art, design or just for incredible movie-watching experience. The text is dramatically sharper than any other computer on the market so is even ideal for English, history, and maths students. To be honest, this laptop has the power to benefit any student! This laptop is sleeker, slimmer and at 20% lighter than the previous model, it is a lot easier to carry around university from lecture to lecture all day. The new MacBook Pro can be yours from £1,799 on the apple website.

The Amazon kindle is the best portable device to read books with. It saves space both in your student halls and saves space on your laptop! You can even read through essays without having to hurt your eyes. The Kindle will cost you approximately £111 or £152 depending on whether you require 3G Wireless or not.

The Brother all-in-one printer is another necessity for student ease at university, which offers everything a student would need, it can be wireless with wifi capabilities as well as photocopying facilities, scanner capability and of course it prints as well!

Students may also want other top gadgets including iPods, DVD players, iPhones, mobile phones, microwaves for their baked beans on toast and alarm clocks, which shout and tell students to wake up so that it feels like they never left home!